Brent Crude - Oil steadies after hitting one-month high

• Brent hits one-month high
• Saudi and Russian cuts supporting recent moves
• Major barriers of resistance above

Oil prices are a little flat today after paring earlier gains. Brent hit a one-month high on Monday after breaking above the 21 June peak, bringing an end to a series of lower highs that had contributed to the consolidation we've seen in recent months.

While it is still trading around the range highs since early May, the break of the recent high could be viewed as a bullish step that could give it the momentum to break back above $80.

Brent Crude

Source - OANDA on Trading View

It has now run into resistance again around the late-May and early-June highs near $79 but the rally still has momentum at this stage. You can see that on the stochastic and MACD, both of which are making higher highs alongside the recent moves in price which could be a supportive signal.

While a break above $79 could appear to be a very bullish signal as it would represent a break of previous highs, the 55/89-day simple moving average band, and the descending channel, all of those things also occurred in April so more confirmation may be required.

The next key test could be found in the $83-$85 region where it comes into contact with the 200/233-day SMA band. A move above here could be viewed as a much more significant bullish signal, having traded below here since last summer.